PETITION TO PRESERVE LEGACY RESIDENTS, PROTECT AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AND KEEP OUR SCHOOLS OPEN

Strong Communities Need Stable Families, Affordable Housing, and Thriving Neighborhood Schools

 

We, the undersigned residents, parents, educators, alumni, taxpayers, faith leaders, and community stakeholders, call on local leaders, housing officials, developers, and school district leadership to take immediate action to preserve affordable housing, protect legacy residents from displacement, and sustain enrollment in our neighborhood public schools.

 

Atlanta’s neighborhoods are rapidly changing. Longtime families, many of whom helped build and sustain these communities for generations, are being priced out due to rising housing costs, redevelopment pressures, property taxes, and the loss of affordable housing options. As families are displaced, neighborhood schools experience declining enrollment, reduced funding, instability, and eventual closure threats.

School closures are not happening in isolation. Housing instability and displacement directly impact student enrollment, educational continuity, family stability, and community survival.

 

We are especially concerned about how Tax Allocation District (TAD) reinvestment strategies and redevelopment incentives are contributing to rapid neighborhood transformation without adequate protections for existing residents. While TADs were created to encourage economic growth and community revitalization, too often the benefits of redevelopment are not reaching the families who have historically lived in these communities.

 

Instead, many legacy residents are facing rising rents, increasing property taxes, housing insecurity, and displacement. As families are pushed out of their neighborhoods, student populations decline, schools lose enrollment, and public officials then point to reduced enrollment as justification for school closures and consolidations.

 

This cycle creates a harmful pattern:

 

Public reinvestment fuels redevelopment,

Redevelopment increases displacement,

Displacement reduces school enrollment,

Reduced enrollment threatens neighborhood schools,

Communities lose both affordable housing and public schools.

 

We believe this pattern must be addressed before more schools are closed and more families are forced out.

 

We believe:

 

Affordable housing is essential to maintaining stable school enrollment.

Legacy residents deserve the opportunity to remain in the communities they helped build.

Thriving schools and thriving neighborhoods go hand in hand.

Public investments, including TAD funding and redevelopment incentives, should prioritize community stability and family retention.

Children deserve the ability to attend school in the communities where they live.

Communities should not be pushed out in the name of redevelopment while public schools are simultaneously weakened or closed.

Equitable development must include protections against displacement and investments that directly benefit existing residents and neighborhood schools.

We call on city leaders, housing authorities, developers, and school district officials to:

Preserve and expand affordable housing opportunities for working families, seniors, and longtime residents.

Prioritize anti-displacement policies that protect legacy residents from being forced out of their communities.

Conduct a full public review of how TAD investments and redevelopment projects are impacting school enrollment and community displacement.

Create stronger partnerships between housing policy and school sustainability planning.

Ensure redevelopment projects include meaningful community benefits that support families and public schools.

Use public funding and incentives responsibly to strengthen neighborhoods rather than contribute to displacement.

Pause school closure discussions until housing displacement impacts are fully studied and addressed.

Invest in neighborhood schools as long-term community anchors that attract and retain families.

Increase transparency and public accountability regarding redevelopment decisions that affect schools and housing stability.

 

When families stay, schools survive.

When communities are preserved, children thrive.

When affordable housing disappears, schools suffer.

 

We refuse to accept a future where longtime residents are displaced, children are uprooted, and neighborhood schools are left behind.

 

This is about more than buildings.

This is about protecting community, stability, history, and opportunity for future generations.

 

We Stand For:

 

Affordable Housing

Legacy Residents

Strong Public Schools

Equitable Development

Community Stability

Investment Without Displacement

 

Sign the Petition Today!